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“Now is the time to influence that debate. I do believe that there is a majority to be harnessed in favour of single market membership.

“Jeremy Corbyn may be doing his best of obfuscate on that issue and present he doesn’t understand this.

“But I think the pressure within the Labour Party may change that over the next period. If that happens, if Labour gets its act together, there are somewhat I would describe as softer-Brexit Tories who would I think favour single market membership.

“So we have made that case consistently as the best compromise option. Obviously, our preferred option is membership of the EU.

I do believe that there is a majority to be harnessed in favour of single market membership

Nicola Sturgeon

“The reason to put this hard evidence of why that is the best or least damaging option into the public domain now is to seek to harness that majority, which I believe does exist if these conditions are met in the House of Commons and we will continue to do exactly that.”

One reporter then quizzed the First Minister arguing so far “your detailed papers on Brexit have been either ignored or rejected”. The reporter then asked if this was a way to appeal directly to MPs.

Ms Sturgeon insisted that evidence previously put forward by the Scottish Government had influenced the Brexit debate.

During her speech, Ms Sturgeon claimed that if the UK did not reach a trade agreement with the EU it would cost Scotland’s economy by £12.7 billion a year.

The figure is equivalent to an 8.5 percent drop in GDP by 2030, the study claims.

Brexit deal agreement in full: Read the report published

Fri, December 8, 2017

Read the full 7,000-word agreement on the Brexit deal

Ms Sturgeon said: “For the sake of jobs, the economy and the next generation, today we are calling on the UK Government to drop its hard Brexit red-lines so that Scotland and the UK can stay inside the single market and customs union.

“Scotland is particularly well-placed to take advantage of the developing and deepening Single Market - the world's biggest economy of 500 million people, eight times the size of the UK.

“Our brilliant world-class universities, our unrivalled potential in renewable energy, our life sciences industry, our digital sector and other key areas of the Scottish economy are all in prime position to reap the rewards of these developments.

“That will mean more jobs and higher wages. It would be a tragedy for future generations if we let that opportunity pass us by.

“The fact that the Prime Minister wants to leave not only the political structures of the EU but come out of the European Economic Area shows just how extreme the UK Government position is. With just weeks to go before the opening of talks on the future relationship that extreme stance must be dropped.”